


lightning crashes

by bydayorbynight



Series: would it be okay if I came home to you? [4]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: 1x13, Alex Manes Loves Michael Guerin, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Michael Guerin Loves Alex Manes, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bydayorbynight/pseuds/bydayorbynight
Summary: Their faces were so close, Alex could feel the heat radiating off of Michael’s skin. It had always been like this, impossible to break free once they were in each other’s orbit, bound to the laws of each other’s gravity. Alex leaned in to kiss him, and Michael surrendered to his pull, reaching for his face, his hair, his heart. The kiss was desperate, hungry, but most of all, hasty. As much as Michael wanted to keep Alex’s face in his hands forever, it was the rare occasion where there were more pressing matters at hand than having the love of his life pressed up against him in pure longing.“I died tonight, Alex.”—When Alex shows up at Michael’s Airstream the night of the lightning storm, nothing goes according to plan.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: would it be okay if I came home to you? [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135127
Comments: 12
Kudos: 73





	lightning crashes

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous Tumblr prompt: When Michael and Alex talk inside his airstream before Michael runs off to deal with Noah there is a moment where it looks like they were going to kiss. My prompt is what if they did kiss then.
> 
> A canon-divergent take on the season 1 finale.

  
_“What are you doing here?”_

_“I wanted to see you.”_

_“Alex, it’s a really bad time.”_

_“Okay, look. I shouldn’t have left you behind when I enlisted. I could stand here and tell you that I didn’t want to leave, but I did. After what my dad did to you, I just, I wanted to be the kind of person who won battles. It felt good. But now I look in the mirror. I don’t even see myself sometimes. I see my father. I’m still fighting his battles. Not mine.”_

Their faces were so close, Alex could feel the heat radiating off of Michael’s skin. It had always been like this, impossible to break free once they were in each other’s orbit, bound to the laws of each other’s gravity. Alex leaned in to kiss him, and Michael surrendered to his pull, reaching for his face, his hair, his heart. The kiss was desperate, hungry, but most of all, hasty. As much as Michael wanted to keep Alex’s face in his hands forever, it was the rare occasion where there were more pressing matters at hand than having the love of his life pressed up against him in pure longing.

“I died tonight, Alex.”

“You what?”

He tried to ignore Alex’s bewildered face. There was no time.

“And what kept running through my mind while I was bleeding out was that one of the last things I said to you was that I didn’t love you.”

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t believe you.” Alex shook his head. “Wait, that _is_ your blood?”

“So in case anything happens tonight, I just want you to know. I do love you. I always will. And it scares the shit out of me. But I don’t want you to ever have to wonder.”

“What? Where are you going? What is happening?”

“The murders. It was Noah. He’s on the loose, and I need to stop him before he kills someone else.”

“Noah? Wait! I-I’m coming with you.”

“No! He’s an alien, and he’s stronger than all of us combined.”

“More reason for me to come. You’re gonna need backup.”

* * *

“Oh good, you saved me a trip,” Noah said, smiling when he saw them approach. He had just finished pushing Max’s silver-laden body into the pod. Isobel was already floating in the other pod, looking oddly serene. The last pod remained empty.

“What did you do to them?” Michael yelled, fearing the worst.

“Don’t worry, they’re not dead. Close, but not quite. Should be enough for leverage.”

“Leverage for what?”

“Mikey. I just want to go home. Don’t you?” Noah turned and gave Alex a small knowing smile. “Or maybe you don't, not anymore. You and Max with your little human crushes. It’s cute, really.”

“You’re one to talk,” Michael said through gritted teeth, wishing Alex had never come.

“What, Rosa? Rosa was a plaything. A feisty little pet.”

“Get her name out of your mouth,” Alex said, low and menacing. His handgun was trained on Noah’s heart.

“You like ‘em feisty too, don’t you Mikey? I knew it.” Noah flicked his hand casually, and the gun twisted against itself and flew across the cavernous space, landing with a dull clank.

“Oh! You weren’t here when I showed Max. It’s _especially_ pathetic considering how you’re the one who’s supposed to know telekinesis, but, uh, this is how you give someone a heart attack.”

With a twist of his hand, Alex was clutching at his chest, coughing and writhing on the ground. Michael made a frantic move to be at his side, but Noah held is free hand up to freeze him in place. Michael watched in horror as Alex closed his eyes and went limp against the quarry floor.

“No, Alex, no...” Michael muttered despairingly, too in shock to even scream.

“Hm, that was fast. Max held on a lot longer.” Noah released his hold on Michael. He already had him right where he wanted him.

Michael’s eyes were wild with unfallen tears. He could save them for later, maybe when he’d accepted the outcome.

“You’re dead,” Michael growled, slamming Noah against the wall without lifting a finger.

Noah brushed himself off with a laugh. “So sad, unlocking one puny power and thinking it sets you apart.”

Outside, the thunder had intensified, finally drowning out the overwrought beating of Michael’s own heart. _One power, huh?_

He gave a final glance at Max floating in his pod before running towards the passage out of the mine. Not Alex, though. He couldn’t look at Alex.

“Didn’t take you for a coward, Mikey,” Noah called after him before following. The silver for a third person wasn’t completely melted yet, so he had time for a little fun, but only so much.

The rain came down hard on Michael, shielding his tears in the cold comfort of anonymity. He had felt it, the moment Alex died. Maybe it was grief. Maybe it was something else. In any case, he was buzzing with a strange, newfound energy. Instinctively, he lifted a hand towards the sky and caught it. Lightning.

Noah stood at the entrance of the mine, looking both defeated and a little proud. “Welcome to the dark side.”

Michael sent the lightning straight into Noah’s heart.

Michael could still feel the power coursing through his veins when he ran back to Alex’s side. So that was how it felt to kill somebody. He leaned over Alex, placing a hand over his heart. Alex was so still. Michael had barely seen Alex sleep when they were together, always falling asleep before him and waking after he was already up. He couldn’t even pretend he had seen it before.

It was then that his hand started to glow. It was a small flickering thing, but it was something. He thought about how Alex didn’t go through three tours and lose a leg just to die in a dark cave at the hands of an alien. How they kept missing each other, and also kept _missing_ each other. And how Noah was right. He wanted to be where Alex was, even if that meant kneeling on the very earth that claimed him, six feet in the ground.

Through the tears he saw that the red glow had bloomed, and his hand felt submerged in fire. The air crackled with electricity and his body strained to access parts of him he had never used before. He cried out from the pain.

“Michael?” A weak voice broke through the haze. 

“Alex!” Michael reached forward to gather him in his arms. The tears fell freely now.

“Did I...Did you just...”

“You died,” Michael sobbed into Alex’s shoulder, having only reached acceptance because he had fixed it.

“You...saved me,” Alex said, both in wonderment and to console him.

“I didn’t think I could do it. I thought...”

“Michael. I love you, too.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry I didn't say it before.”

“You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

“Okay, but I’m also sorry for dying. I was supposed to back you up,” Alex said wryly.

Michael laughed reluctantly through his tears. “Can you not make jokes right now? My body can’t handle that many emotions at once.” He held onto Alex’s shirt, as if to affirm his existence. “And just so you know, I don’t want backup. No more battles, not your father’s, not mine. I don’t need a soldier. I just need you.”

Alex sat up further, leaning towards Michael to kiss his tears away. This time their kiss was long and slow, immersed in a love as deep as the cosmos.

This time, they had all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Lightning Crashes by Live


End file.
